Bombardier Aerospace announced today that Deutsche Lufthansa AG of Germany has placed a firm order for eight CRJ900 NextGen regional jets. The transaction involved the exercise of eight previously announced purchase rights.

Based on the list price for the CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, the contract is valued at approximately $317 million US.

Altogether, Deutsche Lufthansa and its regional partners have previously ordered a total of 109 Bombardier CRJ Series regional jets, including 62 CRJ100 and CRJ200 aircraft, 20 CRJ700 aircraft and 27 CRJ900 and CRJ900 NextGen aircraft. The carriers also operate several very efficient Bombardier Q300 and Q400 turboprop aircraft. The CRJ900 NextGen regional jets announced today will be configured with 86 passenger seats.

“The CRJ900 NextGen aircraft is an outstanding airliner with first-class reliability, excellent fuel-efficiency and a reduced environmental footprint,” said Nico Buchholz, Senior Vice President Corporate Fleet, Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We are very pleased with the CRJ900 NextGen regional jets currently in Lufthansa Regional’s fleet and we have no hesitation in adding more.”

“In 1992, Lufthansa was the first airline in the world to begin service with the original CRJ100 regional jet,” said Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “Bombardier’s long relationship with Lufthansa, which is known for its technical excellence, has contributed significantly to the ensuing success of the CRJ Series aircraft program. This order further strengthens that relationship, and follows the recent delivery of the 100^th CRJ regional jet to the Lufthansa group.”

Bombardier’s CRJ NextGen regional jets, which were launched in 2007, are the most recent step in the evolution of the CRJ Series aircraft family, the world’s most successful family of regional aircraft. Including the order announced today, the CRJ Series aircraft program has now recorded firm orders for a total of 1,703 aircraft with 1,591 of these delivered as of April 30, 2010. CRJ Series aircraft are in service with more than 60 airlines and have logged more than 27 million flight hours and 23 million take-off and landing cycles. In addition, corporate variants of CRJ Series aircraft are in service with more than 30 operators.

Source: Bombardier